Minnesota Twins: Trevor Plouffe's play at third concerns Gardenhire

Minnesota Twins third baseman Trevor Plouffe throws to first on a bunt by Seattle Mariners' Brendan Ryan in the sixth inning of a baseball game, Friday, Aug. 17, 2012, in Seattle. Ryan was out on the sacrifice play. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

SEATTLE -- Trevor Plouffe drove in his first run in a month on Sunday, Aug. 19, with a sacrifice fly in the second inning in the Twins series finale against the Mariners at Safeco Field.

Plouffe, second on the team with 19 home runs, has been scuffling offensively since returning from the disabled list (thumb) on Aug. 13, 1 for 20 in five games entering Sunday. But it wasn't Plouffe's offense that concerned manager Ron Gardenhire, it was his defense, particularly on two hot grounders that became hits in Saturday's 3-2 loss.

"I'm not worried about him taking his swings. I know he can hit. I know he can do some of those things, but I do worry about the ball going by him at third base -- with no movement," Gardenhire said. "That can't happen; you've got to catch the balls."

Brendan Ryan laced a rope past Plouffe for an RBI single in the third, and Justin Smoak reached on a leadoff double that glanced off Plouffe's glove in the fifth. According to his manager, Plouffe was slow to react on each play because he was standing too tall.

"He just didn't move for the ball. He's got to take a step," Gardenhire said. "He's just kind of reaching down for them; he's got to get lower. He's starting to stand up straight again and that's probably (because) you're scuffling a little bit at the plate, you're carrying it out there, you're thinking about that. I think he knows it. I'll talk to him -- again today.

Advertisement

"

Twins coaches had a similar complaint about Danny Valencia, who was the team's third baseman until being demoted to Class AAA Rochester in May and ultimately traded to the Boston Red Sox.

"You've got to bend over," Gardenhire said. "It's the same thing Danny Valencia was doing, standing straight up, and if you're an infielder, ground balls are normally on the ground. And if you're standing straight up, that's a long ways to get to them, especially on the hot corner. The balls are going right by him, and he's not really getting his glove down.

"You've got to get a little lower to the ground, and you've gotta move your feet a little bit because he didn't really move his feet on either one of them."